Tag Archives: alcohol facts

Bookmark this post. Print it and keep it in your wallet. If you’re all about enjoying alcohol but maintaining good health, then read on.

From time to time our government puts out guidelines for alcohol consumption – but who wants to go through tables and tables of data? We’ve put together for your a sweet little infographic to summarise the guidelines for you.

Here it is in summary (numbers are inclusive):

Males:

Drink up to 4 drinks per week for low long term risk

Drink up to 6 drinks per week for moderate long term risk

Drink up to 10 drinks per week but cop a high long term risk

Drink up to 6 drinks per week for low short term risk

Drink up to 10 drinks per week for moderate short term risk

Drink 11+ drinks per week but cop a high short term risk

Females:

Drink up to 2 drinks per week for low long term risk

Drink up to 7 drinks per week for moderate long term risk

Drink up to 10 drinks per week but cop a high long term risk

Drink up to 5 drinks per week for low short term risk

Drink up to 10 drinks per week for moderate short term risk

Drink 10+ drinks per week but cop a high short term risk

Remember to enjoy alcohol safely! That’s all from QLD Cheers this week.

We would be amiss if we didn’t address the topic that’s most likely going through most of your minds in these late months of the year – Schoolies. If you’re planning to take part in the event as a Schoolie (or a Toolie!), there are some things you should know beforehand in order to make the most out of your celebrations. We’ve gathered a list of tips from some of the national schoolies websites in Australia to give you a bit of a head-start! Don’t worry, we’ll try and keep it short – we know you don’t like to read ;).

Getting Organised:

WHO will you go with?

It’s always best to travel with people you know and trust!

A larger group can bring down costs per person

WHAT will you do?

How long are you planning to stay?

Is everyone in your group over 18? Are there things to do for those who aren’t?

WHEN will you go?

Time your schoolies trip so you don’t miss any extra requirements for tertiary course entry. Lots of universities and TAFEs set interviews, auditions or entrance tests around this time of year.

WHERE will you stay?

Schoolies accommodation gets booked out fast so get onto this as soon as you can!

Hotels, motels, resorts, units/house, caravans, and campsites are all options

HOW will you get there?

Public transport, driving? Plan your route ahead of time.

Accommodation:

Prepare a budget so you’ll know how much you can afford to spend on accommodation and save enough money for other things like food, transport and having fun.

Know your rights and responsibilities when renting accommodation, especially with things like bonds, repairs and cancellations. Ask to see and read the ‘house rules’ before signing anything.

Keep your cash and other valuables in a safe place. If you choose to leave the door open, keep an eye on who is coming and going.

Be a good tenant. Leave your room, apartment or campsite in the state you found it. Report any breakages or damage and be prepared to pay reasonable compensation to the owner, if necessary.

Safe Partying:

Remember you don’t have to drink alcohol to have fun!

Know the liquor laws in the state where you’re holidaying.

If you’re over 18 years old, organise a driver’s licence, passport or proof of age card.

Avoid drinking in rounds and know your limits.

If you’re drinking, stay with people you know and trust.

DO NOT drink and drive.

If you think your drink has been spiked, tell a friend, bar or security staff, or the police.

If you think you’ve been sexually assaulted, tell a friend or family member, and go to a doctor or hospital.

Don’t accept drinks from strangers.

Don’t drink something you did not open, or see opened or poured.

If you’re unsure about your drink, leave it.

Remember no drug use is safe.

If you take drugs, tell someone else what you are taking in case you become sick or unconscious.

Disputes and Violence:

Stay cool when trying to resolve a dispute, whether with a bar staff, security staff or whoever. Being polite and courteous goes a long way to getting your problem solved.

Organise a ‘safe place’ where you and your friends can meet up if you feel threatened.

If a fight breaks out then move out of the area as quick as you can.

If someone’s threatening you or has assaulted you in any way, call the police on 000 immediately.

Travel in groups and always look out for each other. Don’t go out alone and stick to well-lit streets.

Report any assault, no matter how minor, to the police.

Accept the fact that conflicts and disputes will inevitably arise when you are living closely with friends and sharing your space. Often a bit of ‘time out’ will help clear the air when there’s been a disagreement.

We know it’s a lot to take in, but if it helps you or someone you know avoid an unfriendly situation then it’s worth every second spent. We hope you enjoy your schoolies week – it will be one of the most exciting weeks of your life! Keep safe, be responsible, and have FUN!

To help kick things off, we wanted to start with some facts and figures about alcohol that you may not have known about. There are so many rumours and myths relating to alcohol it can be confusing to know what’s true and what isn’t. To start off with though, here’s a sobering disclaimer for you: The family of compounds known as alcohols are all toxins that can kill you, whether instantly, quickly, or gradually. Yet one of them – ethyl alcohol, or ethanol – is a staple of the human diet. Archaeologist Patrick McGovern speculates that fermented beverages were made as early as 100,000 years ago, when people first spread out of Africa. According to the Drunken Monkey Hypothesis, our zest for alcoholic beverages derives from our distant ancestors’ impulse to seek the ripest, most energy-intensive fruits. The more you know…

Now you may have heard that some alcoholic beverages such as beer or wine are better for you than liquors. This is false. Beer or wine is not safer to drink than liquor. Fact: One beer has about the same amount of alcohol as one glass of wine, or 1 shot of liquor. It is the amount of ethanol consumed that affects a person most, not the type of alcoholic drink.

The effect alcohol has on an individual varies greatly and can be attributed to a number of different characteristics; a notable one being body weight. Did you know though that a lean, muscular person will be less affected by drink than someone with more body fat? Water-rich muscle tissue is able to absorb alcohol very effectively, preventing it from reaching the brain.

With alcohol, there is no digestion required. Ethanol is such a small, simple molecule that it pours directly out of the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. This is why you’ll find you handle your alcohol more easily with a full stomach – the food absorbs more of the alcohol before it pours through and reaches the small intestine.

The real effects alcohol can have on a person are quite startling, and it’s shocking to discover that there is 1 alcohol-related death incident every 31 minutes. That’s insane! That fact alone should be enough to make anyone nervous, especially when coupled with the knowledge that alcohol consumption also clearly increases the risk of cancers (such as lip, tongue, throat, oesophagus, liver, and breast). They’re just statistics though, right? Nothing like that is ever really real until you experience it happening first-hand to someone you know. Here’s a couple of facts that may hit closer to home if you’re familiar with the effect alcohol has on people:

As many as 70% of uni students admit to having engaged in sexual activity primarily as a result of being under the influence of alcohol, or to having sex they wouldn’t have had if they had been sober.

At least one out of five uni students abandon safe sex practices when they’re drunk, even if they do protect themselves when they’re sober.

Don’t forget while you’re downing drinks to wash away regrets that they may in fact lead to new ones – keep an eye on the effect alcohol is having on you. If you’re starting to make decisions you would never make when you’re sober, it’s probably time to start sobering up.

Drunkenness is considered an impairment of the neurons in your head, but Australian researchers recently reported that part of the feeling may result instead from the effect of ethanol on the brain’s immune system. This finding could lead to new treatments for alcoholism. On an unrelated note though, did you know that The Malaysian pen-tailed tree shrew routinely chugs the equivalent of nine glasses of wine a night in naturally fermented nectar, and yet remains fully functional? Jealous? Time to start rounding up some new designated drivers!

We’ll end with a goal for you this year – don’t worry about the fact that it’s already September, it’s never too late to start a resolution! The carbon dioxide in champagne bottles creates 90 pounds of pressure per square inch, which is three times the pressure in automobile tires. Flying corks can cause retinal detachment, double vision, and blindness. So don’t stare at the cork!